Blog NIGHTBRINGER'S PAINTING AND CONVERSION BLOG! OH MY!

After well over 10,000 posts on this forum, I figured it was about time that I join the ranks and start my very own blog. I hope to feature my admittedly not so many painted and conversion works (probably more conversion work than painting, because I am a very slow and easily distracted painter!).

The blog will mostly feature Lizardmen, Warriors of Chaos and Tomb Kings as those are my main armies. There may be a sprinkling of my old painted Necrons (my first and only fully painted army from decades ago) just for a few chuckles.

This blog is dedicated to @Crowsfoot , for tirelessly motivating us to paint more models.

It all started with a dinosaur purchased at a Toys'R'Us, who henceforth was named Bronti:

The next step was to build a custom Engine of the Gods. To begin, I used my scroll saw to cut out the decorative platform out of two layers of thin acrylic that were super glued together:
Which were assembled to give us:
Work then continued by creating a custom howdah for the Engine of the Gods. These pieces were cut from Maple. In the picture below you see the two side pieces for the howdah and 4 extensions (I called them ribs) that will hold the secondary Skink howdahs on either side of Bronti. Lastly, there is a small piece of maple that will be affixed to the underside of the Engine of the Gods platform which will anchor and house a plastic dowel to attach the engine of the gods to Bronti. If you look carefully, you can see that a hole has already been drilled into the back of Bronti.
Closeup:
Next I cut out 3 rectangular platforms that will make up the 2 side howdahs for the Skink crew and the rear howdah that will belong to the Skink priest. It's hard to make out on the picture, but into each side of the platforms, I carved a repeating triangular pattern. You can also see that the components pictured above have been assembled and placed on the back of Bronti.
Moving on, I cut up a bunch of Saurus standards which I re-positioned and green stuffed to form an eventual railing for the Skink howdahs.
In the following photo you can see several of the next steps that I worked on. Firstly I created a tail spike that the Skink attached to Bronti's tail. The main section was formed with some green stuff, while the two bony projections are scales from the Bastilodon kit. Next I created four armored plates for Bronti's neck. These were cut from Maple. Lastly, on the bottom of the picture you can see a bunch of bits that I collected that would be used throughout the model as decorations.

Moving forward, I then cut out two wooden pieces that when combined will form an anklet for Bronti. You can also see a closeup of the tail spike created earlier:

And here is the anklet, attached and green stuffed into position:

Next, I added decorations to the armored plates for the neck. The bone spikes on top are from the Carnosaur kit. I obtained the decorations for the sides of the plates from the Saurus Warriors kit and the Cold One Cavalry kit. You can also see that the engine of the gods platform is fully removable from Bronti.

I then began working on the Engine of the Gods machinery. I added some green stuff tabs on the underside of the Bastilodon's solar engine. This seemingly simple task to me quite some time, because my green stuff skills leave much to be desired.

Pictured below are the beads I purchased which I would glue onto the wooden armored sections to allow the armored plates to be "tied" into place on Bronti:

Here you can see that the beads have been glued into place, and the plates have been tied around the neck. To simulate rope, I took metal painted gardening wire, cut two equal sized pieces and coiled/twisted them together to form each rope. They were then threaded through the beads and glued into place. On the bottom I affixed some plastic metal beads which will be used as gemstones.
You can also see on the bottom of the picture that I have completed the railings for the Skink howdahs and added wooden extensions on the platforms.

Below is a picture of Bronti's base. The base itself is a standard 50mm x 100mm chariot base (I didn't have any plastic ones at hand so I made one out of wood). Unfortunately, Bronti's footprint was a little too big so I carved out a wooden rock formation for his feet to sit on. I then added a plastic citadel jungle tree, some plants from a Wood Elf kit that my wife had lying around and a bloat toad from the Ripperdactyl kit.

My last WIP picture shows the completed howdah sections. Also shown is the unassembled Engine of the Gods which is made up of the Empire Celestial Hurricanum kit and the Lizardmen Stegadon and Bastilodon kits. At this point all that remains is some assembly.

Below you can see the zip ties that will be painted to look like leather straps that hold the howdah in place (in reality, these are purely cosmetic, as the howdah is held in place by the hidden dowel on the underside.

Wow..do you fully plan out a biuld before you do it or are you like me and hold various parts together toll you find what you like....also i do hope you wont mind as i stuff this away for a new build idea you have given me

Wow..do you fully plan out a biuld before you do it or are you like me and hold various parts together toll you find what you like...

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For the most part my process is similar to yours. When I started the project, I had rough ideas, but the fine details were ironed out as I went along. For the actual conversion bits, I most definitely held parts together to see what I could come up with. For pieces that I custom made on my scroll saw, I definitely had to plan them out ahead of time, but even then I would plan out a piece and complete it, before moving onto the subsequent plans for the subsequent components.

also i do hope you wont mind as i stuff this away for a new build idea you have given me

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That's why we have these blogs, to share ideas and techniques with one another. If you can draw any inspiration from any of my work, I look upon that as a huge compliment and honor. So please take any ideas from my projects that you find useful, you have my blessings!

So glad you started a blog to add pictures of your lizards-in-progress! And of course it was a great start with this awesome model you built, thanks for all the WIP pictures! Ever since I saw this guy I wanted to make some bronto-saurus sized siege towers to use in castle scenarios, now I have some more step-by-step inspiration.

So glad you started a blog to add pictures of your lizards-in-progress! And of course it was a great start with this awesome model you built, thanks for all the WIP pictures! Ever since I saw this guy I wanted to make some bronto-saurus sized siege towers to use in castle scenarios, now I have some more step-by-step inspiration.

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Thanks for all the great words of encouragement. I really worked hard on that conversion and pushed myself well past my comfort zone. I'm really glad it was so well received.

I thought it was about time I started a paint blog. I can't be just about Star Wars, Samurai Jack and Memes! Expanding horizons I guess.

And you never painted that one?
Man what a waste! It looks great and would look awesome when painted. Do It!!

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If @NIGHTBRINGER was not on the other side of the world I would have painted most of his collection by now but it is now down to him, that conversion is fantastic and seeing how much you actually think about stuff is mind blowing, I tend to just make stuff up as I go.

Post your kroxigor! Last time I checked the gallery it was painted...
Great to have a step by step guide of your great conversion...

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The Kroxigor should be posted soon. I'd like to make a lightbox to see if I can take some better pictures. He should be up soon... and closely followed by my Marauder unit filler which is in it's very final stages.